Not a bike either...my Fiancee and I just bought a house a few months ago...so money has been a bit tight at times. I needed a workbench, but haven't had the time to build one. We were walking our 2 greyhounds down the street, and a few blocks away she spyed this old workbench in the trash, with a vice even (I have a HUGE one in the garage as well). She said "Didn't you want a work bench?" Well, by the time we drove our PT Cruiser down the street at about 6pm the day before trash day, we had worked ourselves up and were saying "OMG I can't believe we are going to steal this 40 year old work bench from the trash"

We got it home, and it's old, but I didn't have one, and what is a workshop without any sort of workbench right? It'll work. I may replace the top, but it's better than nothing...

Question is, were we just in our humility? I'd have no shame snagging a nice bike from the trash, but something as big and "junky" looking to most?

No, there is no shame in picking through people's trash. The shame is that we live in a society so wasteful and lazy that people make no effort to find someone who might want the things they no longer need. I have taken countless items out of the trash, and either used them myself, given them away, or sold them. I have taken antiques out of dumpsters and sold them on ebay for hundreds of dollars. Ashamed? No, actually, I'm proud!

Yesterday I took a nice Blackburn rack out of the dumpster, complete with all its mounting hardware.

No, there is no shame in picking through people's trash. The shame is that we live in a society so wasteful and lazy that people make no effort to find someone who might want the things they no longer need. I have taken countless items out of the trash, and either used them myself, given them away, or sold them. I have taken antiques out of dumpsters and sold them on ebay for hundreds of dollars. Ashamed? No, actually, I'm proud!

Yesterday I took a nice Blackburn rack out of the dumpster, complete with all its mounting hardware.

Oh, and congratulations, that's a beautiful work bench!

Thanks, I figure, I'll use it. It's got a nice patina anyway :-) It's not very often that I actually stop to pick something up, but I'm always on the lookout....Hoping to see a nice VLW at the curbside...

The house was just put up for sale, so I think that someone just tossed anything left inside, there was a whole load of furniture, but that was the only thing I could actually use. My little brother made fun of me and called it a "turd-bench", but I beg to differ. It'll get lots of use as a new homeowner.

No, there is no shame in picking through people's trash. The shame is that we live in a society so wasteful and lazy that people make no effort to find someone who might want the things they no longer need. I have taken countless items out of the trash, and either used them myself, given them away, or sold them. I have taken antiques out of dumpsters and sold them on ebay for hundreds of dollars. Ashamed? No, actually, I'm proud!

Yesterday I took a nice Blackburn rack out of the dumpster, complete with all its mounting hardware.

Oh, and congratulations, that's a beautiful work bench!

I cannot agree more strongly. Here in NYC, people throw away absolutely _amazing_ things nightly. I've found such diverse things as a stash of foreign money (mostly English Pounds. In both coin and paper), sterling silver belts (yep! More than one), Chanel handbags, a Trek 900, a Huffy cruiser, a few BMX bikes and a Motobecane mixte. Biggest find was about twenty paintings done by a listed artist on particle board.

When I travel the streets, my companions make good fun of my constantly wandering eyes but I know that the next thing I find is gonna be great!

That old bench is excellent! I've trash picked stuff and bought 'fleas' at markets and garage sales, but really well used old tools (or benches!) are the things that give me the biggest kick. There is nothing like holding a well worn, wood handled tool... my hand imagining the other hands that have used it.

I cannot agree more strongly. Here in NYC, people throw away absolutely _amazing_ things nightly. I've found such diverse things as a stash of foreign money (mostly English Pounds. In both coin and paper), sterling silver belts (yep! More than one), Chanel handbags, a Trek 900, a Huffy cruiser, a few BMX bikes and a Motobecane mixte. Biggest find was about twenty paintings done by a listed artist on particle board.

When I travel the streets, my companions make good fun of my constantly wandering eyes but I know that the next thing I find is gonna be great!

Yup. Sad thing is, people are going to think you're exaggerating. Or that I am. Sterling silver belt? In cannot picture it, but I absolutely believe you. Last month I found a pair of sterling silver cuff links, with some 24k gold bits added (not plated). New, in the box, complete with designer name embossed in the leather. Don't get me wrong; these were ugly, and they were useless (because they're cuff links); but they're an expensive item. Sold them on ebay for $30, which is hardly a tenth of what they cost new.

Yeah, Chanel handbags. Last one I saw looked brand new, but someone had dumped what appeared to be a whole order of Chinese food into it. I left it where it was.

Oh, and how's this: I found a $1000 Fendi gift certificate, can youimagine anything more useless? Sold that on ebay, too.

Congratulations on that bench. Looks perfectly fine and useful to me. In the 60s-70s, we owned a home in Seattle that was built in 1903. It featured a beautiful woodworkers bench in the basement. The son of a prior owner (who still lived in the neighborhood) told me the original owner built & repaired violins & violas. When we moved, I couldn't see a way to remove the bench without totally disassembling & possibly damaging the dovetailed joints, so I followed precedent & left it for the new owners. Don

I have found amazing things in the trash. I'd say it is the purest form of recycling, and should be encouraged. I have found bikes, the best being a Cannondale that got parted out on ebay.

One time, when I was a new homeowner and not particularly well off financially, I found a 3' tall pygmy date palm on a trash pile. At the nursery, these sold for $100 a trunk foot for mature ones. This one was not in the best of shape, but I took it home and nursed it back to health. It was going strong when we sold the house many years back. I'd hate to have seen it go to the dump.

Yeah, it's no butchers block style work bench that's for sure, just some 2x4's and such...but it works, and matches the character of the home. Its a 1946 Bungalow, that we purchased from the original owner. At closing the old woman told me that in the linnen closet were the original blue prints. I think I was more excited for that than closing the deal. After we signed the papers I ran home and sure enough, foud the 60+ year old blueprints in the linnen closet, as well as a full bill of materials, and costs accociated...It's quite humorous, and priceless.

No shame at all! Congrats on "re-purposing" on a beautiful, vintage, handmade, antique, work bench made by a loacal artisan in the early part of the 20th century. (Too much ebay recently)

I once found 3 bikes in the trash while taking my dog for a walk. 2 Schwinn Varsity's (Mens & Women's) and a Men's Fuji Toruing Series IV. I donnated the Schwinn's to the local bike co-op and sold the Fuji (too small for me) on ebay. I got $232 for the Fuji. All three bike were ridable with minor work.

I cannot agree more strongly. Here in NYC, people throw away absolutely _amazing_ things nightly. I've found such diverse things as a stash of foreign money (mostly English Pounds. In both coin and paper), sterling silver belts (yep! More than one), Chanel handbags, a Trek 900, a Huffy cruiser, a few BMX bikes and a Motobecane mixte. Biggest find was about twenty paintings done by a listed artist on particle board.

When I travel the streets, my companions make good fun of my constantly wandering eyes but I know that the next thing I find is gonna be great!

Wow, you've done even better than I have! NYC is great for this stuff, although I'm always a bit paranoid of what might be on it (no upholstered furniture for sure, bedbugs are no joke).

I love trash picking and have decided to use that as a motivator for taking some shorter 5-15 miles rides after work. I printed off the list of streets and pick up dates for my community and will be planning my routes accordingly.

One of the great things about CL is that stuff that I don't have a use for, like old lawn mowers and power equipment, can be brought home and then sold for a little cash very quickly. Even if they don't work.

My favorite trash picking story involves a nice couch that a neighbor was throwing out. We had moved into our house the year before and did not know them very well. We knocked and asked if it was okay to take it. Sure, they said it is very comfortable. The next year, just before they moved, they were getting rid of a bunch more stuff and asked if we wanted any of it. We went and looked and brought home a number of boxes of stuff, a rusty old tandem and an old pedal car.

As we were talking we mentioned how we had felt a little strange about taking their old couch. It turns out they had trash picked it 4-5 years earlier and had the fitted slip cover made for it.

Hey that is one solid looking bench. 4x4s for legs, nice. Those planks on the top are not exactly easy to come by or cheep these days and the wood block vise is perfect for working on bike parts you don't want to mar. Nice score!